Xbox 360 Turning Blu

Check the weather - looks like a freeze might be coming. Back in the day, PS3 was Blu-ray, Xbox 360 was HD DVD. And, Toshiba was HD DVD, and still refuses to switch to Blu-ray. My, oh my, how times are changing.

X-bit Labs is reporting that Microsoft is ready to release an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. Obviously, they need to add Blu-ray to remain competitive with Sony's Playstation.

But, you'll never guess who's slated to make the drives for them.

As part of a joint venture with Samsung, Toshiba has been contracted to make the external Blu-ray drives. Yup, the company most strongly associated with HD DVD, the company that still hasn't brought its own Blu-ray players to market, is going to supply the drives for Microsoft.

The drives will probably sell for between $100 and $150 to compete against Playstation.

No word on when this will happen - in time for the holiday rush, or at CES, to make a big media splash. -Leslie Shapiro